D-Day veteran from Mount Tremper dies five days after visiting France to mark 70th anniversary of invasion

Jack Schlegel of Mount Tremper, second from right (in brown VFW cap), stood just behind President Barack Obama during a D-Day commemoration ceremony on June 6 at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in Colleville-sur-Mer, France. Schlegel died Wednesday at age 90.
Pascal Rossignol — Associated Press

SHANDAKEN >> Jack Schlegel was remembered on Monday as a civic-minded gentlemen who tooled around the town in a red convertible and always was quick with a kind word and easy smile for those he encountered.

But Schlegel, who died last Wednesday at his Mount Tremper home at the age of 90, also was a decorated war hero. He was among the members of the 508th Infantry Regiment of the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne unit who landed on the beaches at Normandy, France, on D-Day, June 6, 1944. Forty years later, in the town of Picauvlle, near Sainte-Mere-Eglise, the road on which Schlegel landed was named in his honor.

His death came just five days after he visited Normandy to mark the 70th anniversary of D-Day — a commemoration at which he stood just a few feet from President Barack Obama.

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Schlegel was born in Germany on Nov. 14, 1923, emigrated to the U.S. with his parents in 1930, when he was 7, and joined the Army’s elite airborne division in 1942.

Schlegel was highly decorated in four World War II battles, including the assault on Normandy, and was captured by the Germans four times. (He escaped three times.) He also once had a drink with Gen. George Patton.

After the war, Schlegel came back to the United States, ultimately finding his way to Ulster County, where he made a life, raised a family and became involved in local government.

He served for a time as a police officer and officer in charge for the town of Shandaken, and he was the town’s supervisor from 1980 to 1983. He was the owner and operate of Schlegel Security Agency in Ulster County, a co-founder and life member of the Ulster County Chiefs of Police and a member of the 82nd Airborne Association, the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Mount Tremper Fire Department.

“He was amazing,” recalled Patty Heinz, the current secretary/bookkeeper to the Shandaken supervisor. “He would always stop by to visit, just to say ‘hello.’

“He was very much the perfect gentlemen,” Heinz said. “He would always come into the supervisor’s office and say ‘hi’ and bring me little knick-knacks.

Town Clerk Joyce Grant recalled Schlegel as a “snappy dresser” with a “big smile.”

“He was adorable,” she said. “All of the ladies loved him. He was a character.”

“He was just incredible,” said Jaqui Guglielmetti, the deputy town clerk.

Schlegel was a member of American Legion Post 950 in Phoencia and always participated in the organization’s activities, said Post Commander Don Simms.

And for the last several decades, Schlegel returned to France every June 6 to commemorate the D-Day invasion.

Five years ago, he did a tandem parachute jump into the same area where he landed in 1944, Simms said. “Being his age, they wouldn’t let him jump by himself, but they did let him jump with a partner,” he said.

He went to France again this year, to mark the 70th anniversary of D-Day, and he found himself standing just behind Obama during a ceremony at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in Colleville-sur-Mer. A photo showing Schlegel’s proximity to the president was transmitted around the world by The Associated Press.

Schlegel died less than a week later, leaving behind a son, George, of Boiceville, and a daughter, Susan LaBudde, of Cooperstown. His wife, Elaine (Knapp) Schlegel, and a son, Martin, predeceased him.

Aldo Valentini, a friend and fellow World War II veteran who wiled away many days with Schlegel at the American Legion post, said he lost a “real good friend” when Schlegel died.

“He was a clean-living man. I have nothing but good things to say about him,” Valentini said on Monday. “He was a real gentlemen, a real good friend.

“You don’t get guys like that any more.”

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Editor’s note: This story was updated at 9:50 a.m. June 17 to correct Mr. Schlegel’s date of death.

About the Author

Since 1990, Patricia Doxsey has been a reporter for the Freeman, covering politics, crime, and government affairs. Reach the author at pdoxsey@freemanonline.com
or follow Patricia on Twitter: @pattiatfreeman.